Re: Why were _Tyrannosaurus rex_ forelimbs so massively muscled?

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

bruceshillinglaw@netzero.net wrote:
> 
> -- What if  T. rex males didn't jab?
> I've watched numerous boa and python males use their spurs (vestigial hind
> legs) to "tickle", lightly scratch, and otherwise stimulate the cloacal
> region of the female. Odd as it may sound, could the "King of the tyrants"
> have been equally gentle?

I've never thought of tyrannosaur mating as having been what you would call
"gentle". Those forelimbs seem to have been tipped with sharp meat hooks, not at
all like the spurs of pythons or the "thumbs" of marine turtles (the latter
being used to grip the shell of the female). I suppose if the female's hide was
thick enough there could have been some gripping involved (perhaps in the way
big cat males grasp the scruff of the females' necks). Personally I think the
tyrannosaur mating stance probably afforded as little direct contact as possible
- except of course in the "crucial areas" (for want of a better term). More like
parking a couple of trucks in a confined space than piling them on top of each
other.

-- 
____________________________________________________
        Dann Pigdon
        GIS Archaeologist
        Melbourne, Australia

        Australian Dinosaurs:
        http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/4459/
        http://www.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
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